stearns



- SAWMILL,

' 186.66648.` Y 'Patentedvnm 18,1866.

IMPROVEMENT IN SAW-MILLS.

E. H. STEARNS, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 60,648, dated December 18, 1866.

@te tlgthnle tcfen'eh tu in tlgesc tctters ntent mit mailing im nf tige sumo.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, E. H. STEARNS, of Erie, in the county of Erie, and State of Pennsylvania, 'have invented a new and useful Improvement in Saw-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following-is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan.

Figure 2 is a cross-section in the line y y.

FigureS is an inverted plan of a detached part of the carriage.

Figure 4 is the same of anotherpart.

Figure 5 is a 'detached side view of the feeding and gigging movement.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invention relates to a saw-mill, and censists in applying several novel devices and arrangements of machinery for the purpose of simplifying and reducing the cost of construction, and operating the mill easily, saving both time and material, and performing the work better. The machinery for feeding and gigging is easily applied. and the shifting quickly eiected, while the friction is reduced, und the cant of the logis supported and steadied so that the last'plank on the slab can always be cut with certainty and safety.

My improvement specially relates to a saw-guide or rest for supporting the log or cant while sawing or gigging, the arrangement of pulleys in connection with a rocking-frame and rock-shaft for feeding and gigging, and also in hanging and connecting the wheels or rollers on the carriage so that they bear the log toward the saw when feeding, and away from it when gigging. Y

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will proceed to describe the same.

A is the mill-frame, B the carriage, C C the head-blocks, D the main driving pulley, E acircular saw, F a. saw-guide; G, shaft which works the carriage, by means of the pinion that plays into the rack z. The carriage-wheels a a on 'the outside dat track b are hung diiferently from the wheels a a, on the inside of track b. The wheels a a are hung on axles c c, placed a little out of right angles with the side frame of the carriage, so that they are set with an 4inclination slightly oblique to the line of the rail track, as shown in iig.` 3. The wheels a a', which run on the inside track, are hung at right angles with the frame, on axles e c', but the axles are .shorter than the inside of the boxes in which they run, as shown in iig. 4, allowing vthe wheels 'to shift a trie from side to side. It will be observed, also, that the journals of the axles c c, on the wheels a a, of the outside flat track, fill the boxes at their ends, and have no side play. All the boxes have lugs at their ends, against the inside of which the ends of the journals abut and bear when running, instead of resting against shoulders, as customary, by which they have less friction and wear longer. Ey this arrangement of the wheels of the carriage, it will be seen that the front and rear wheels a a', on the Vstrack, can shift a little eut of line with each other, while their movement is still in parallel lines, allowing the oblique wheels a a, on the dat track, to incline the carriage inward toward the saw when feeding, and draw it outward from the saw when the motion is reversed for gigging, by which the log is oiset from the saw and it is relieved of. friction. Inorder to correct the diiculty arising from the cant of the log bending over and breaking, which is often a common occurrence when the saw is cutting at a distance from the head-blocks, with them alone to support it, and the frequent loss efrone board on a slab, I attach a device for supporting the cant, which forms a part of my improved saw-guidearrangement- It is represented by figs. 1 and 2, F being the support, with its 4'upper surface level with the head-blocks C lC, a part of it extending from the saw on the inside, for bearing the cant and sawed stuff, and also with arms or projections, d d', on both sides of the saw, to act as the guide The. cant-support thus forming a part of the saw-guide arrangement, it is sure of being shifted and kept opposite the saw-teeth, where itis needed when the saw veers up or saws olf. This support to the piece of timber overhanging the head-blocks beyond the saw, prevents one side from bearing down so as to render it liable to cut the stuff diagonally instead of square. The saw-guide is made of iron,'of diii'erent sizes, to suit :the work, and the cost of construction of guide and support together is less than when made separately. The arrangement for feeding and gigging is a. rocking-frame H, hung in the middle on short' and strongl standards e c, at both ends, which are set in the mill-frame, It carries two shafts, ff', on the outer ends of which are pulleys, both of which are run by belts from one arbor, g, on tite end of the driving shaft 71. One of the pulleys, z', has a straight belt, la, and the other pulley, z', has a. cross-belt lc. On the infidc ends of the shafts ff are corresponding friction pulleys ZZ,wliich bear upon a large pulley, m, on the shaft G, when applied for reversing the carriage. One end of the 'frame II extends outward, and is connected with a rockshaft fn, by an adjustable serew-rod o, fig. 5, which works in a round turning nut, p, that hangs as a pivot or journal in one end of the extended part or arm, s, of frame H, directly above the rock-shaft 11, on which is the hand-lever g,'for stopping the carriage and reversing the motion for feeding and gigging. The operation for shifting the action of the pulleys Z l on the pulley m, and stopping and reversing the motion, it will be seen, is very simple and prompt, as they are run in different directions by the 'straight and cross-belts, 7c and k', on the arbor g. v'.lhe carriage is stopped instantly by leaving the hand-lever g up, when neithci` of the pulleys Z Z touch the pulley m. 'By this arrangement for regulating the movement of the carriage, the elevation or depression of the ends of the shafts in rocking-boxes, as usually constructed, which throws them out of line, is entirely obviated, and the Wholf is simple and economical in construction, certain in execution, and easily managed. f

Having fully described the construction and operation of my impro-vement in sawfmills, I disclaim the use of a saw-guide separate and independent of the cant-support, or a cantesupport separate and independentAof the saw-guide, my invention, as described, beingifcr so placing and constructing thel cant-support and saw-guide in connection, that they are inseparable and act together. There is no other chance to get a support for the cant in just the right place than as 4arranged in my improvement, constituting, as it does, a part of the sawgu'ide, as hereinbefore described. Two supports are necessary, to be effectual, unless precisely where the saw guide is, as in my arrangement, otherwise the cant may break down when beginning or finishing the cut. If placed before the guide, the cant would not be supported when the saw was finishing the cut, and if placed behind the guide, the out would not be supported when the saw was beginning the cut. Again, if pla-ced either beforeor behind the saw-guide, the cant-support is always in the way when it is necessary to shift or move the saw-guide for larger or smaller saws. On account of these diticulties cant-supports are almost univer versally discarded, though they are very much needed, for reasons before stated v I' also disclaim theuse of an idle pulley, as employed in the patent of Lane and Bodley, of July 26th, 1859,. or any other application of an idle pulley, for feeding and gigging.

1A also disclaim the idea, broadly considered, of moving the log out of contact with the saw, in ggging back, by means of the angling of the shafts on which the carriage runs, as I am aware that such invention is described in a patent granted'G. I'I. Clemens, on the 3d day of January, 1865. My invention, as far as this feature isconccrned, is to be regarded, not as involving this new principle of operation, but as a radical improvement in the means for carrying into effect the principle described in said patent-.-

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. 'Relieving the saw from friction of the log while resting on the carriage B, by means ofthe flat wheels a, grooved wheels a', axles c, and boxes a, flat track and angular track b', constructed and operating substantially as described for the purpose specified. I

2. I claim constructing a cant-support, joined toandforming an inseparable part of the saw-guide, in such a support will necessarily move with it, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes heroin specified.

3. I claim giving motion to the logscarriage and reversing the same, by means of friction pullccys Z Z, when caused to bear upon pulley m, and when rigidly xed to shafts ff, each having a continuous and positive revolving motion from belts applied to pulleys z'z", all constructed and operating substantially as'described.

The above specification of'my invention signed by me this 16th day of April, 1866.

vmanner that, when the guide .is moved nearer or farther from the saw-arbor when'changing saws, the cant- E. H. STEARNS. Witnesses:

JN0. B. McIN'rosH,

S. J. MeKNIenT. 

